The French Regent, Philippe
d’Orléans, granted John
Law 's General Bank the right to issue paper money in 1716. The
following year, Law created the Western Company, which two years later
became the Company of the Indies. He obtained a 25-year trade monopoly
for Louisiana and Illinois, and had flattering articles published
about it in the press, especially the Nouveau Mercure. Stockholders
flocked to invest in the colony, which attracted money, colonists
and engineers from 1717 to 1719.

After the failed attempt to build New Biloxi, the town
of New Orleans was established as a trading town in 1718. The Jesuit and
Capuchin orders (who arrived in 1722) were soon joined by the Ursulines
in 1727. The Company of the Indies took over the Senegal, Orient and China
Companies, and then bought those of Santa Domingo and Guinea in order
to control the slave trade. The spectacular bankruptcy of Law's bank

in July 1720—the result
of excessive speculation, the machinations of rival bankers Pâris
et Crozat,
and the ensuing panic among shareholders—did not keep the Company
from operating profitably for a dozen years, despite its founder's
self-imposed exile.